Liverpool Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014 *mod warning linked in OP 26/07*

Utopia Parkway

I was really impressed any time I saw Lallana last season. Good technical player who could use both feet, could pick out a pass, made intelligent runs between the lines and pressed the ball really well. Really works hard as well.

Not his fault the fee is inflated but he's a bloody good player IMO. Would be nice if he was a few years younger but he's 26 and entering his prime. If it works out Liverpool will get 6 years out of him. Downside being hard to see him having much re-sale value if it doesn't work out. I expect it will though.

murpho999

I don't know, I don't think a signing here has met with praise since we signed Suarez and even that was overshadowed by Torres and Carroll.

daithijjj

The fee for Lallana is over the top. But again, people need to move on from the fee. We have shown for a couple of years now that we are tight on wages, Sturridge took a pay cut etc. Thats why we got Lallana, there is no way he on 100k, id say he is on the same as Henderson and Sturridge, between 60 and 70 ish. And thats why we got him, its good value at that level, and he has incentive to improve further if he wants more.

We can put more illustrious names forward, reality is, we can pay the same fee for them but have to pay 15m more in wages over the length of contract. Its simply not the same scenario to be pigeon holing players based on fee's alone.

We still need a yard dog in midfield though. Plus others.

kfallon

ciaranmac wrote: »

Needs just one word to rebut this.

Alonso.

Antonio Nunez was another absolute bogey!

Turtyturd

Surely Mignolet was seen as a positive signing?

Washington Irving

Turtyturd wrote: »

Surely Mignolet was seen as a positive signing?

Cissokho too. There were some posters annoyed over replacing Reina and perceived overpaying but overall both signings were well received.

Hangballlouie

murpho999 wrote: »

I don't know, I don't think a signing here has met with praise since we signed Suarez and even that was overshadowed by Torres and Carroll.

Sakho I seem to remember had initial praise from the majority when we signed him, the same with Sahin.

The money spent on lallana is crazy IMO, €15 woulda been the max I'd have been happy with, and even then that's a lot of cash. Better cheaper options out there tbh. I'm hoping the rest of the summer brings better players to the club. He's a very good player, and he'll be a good squad signing, but nothing more. I hope I'm wrong and he's the next Beardsley.

MD1990

Turtyturd wrote: »

Surely Mignolet was seen as a positive signing?

I have serious doubts about him. Poor from crosses & with the ball at his feet. I would like us to sign Keylor Navas who is an outstanding keeper.

Nuri Sahin

murpho999 wrote: »

I don't know, I don't think a signing here has met with praise since we signed Suarez and even that was overshadowed by Torres and Carroll.

Awkward Sakho? Though there was probably one or two dead against it at the time for some bizarre reason knowing this place. Probably still one or two who'd rather play Agger instead of him too.

Turtyturd

Washington Irving wrote: »

Cissokho too. There were some posters annoyed over replacing Reina and perceived overpaying but overall both signings were well received.

Sahin, even though it didn't turn out well. Everyone bar Knex was happy with Sturridge.

That's quite a few well received without even having to play the Victory card.

I am pie

kfallon wrote: »

Antonio Nunez was another absolute bogey!

Indeed, Alonso is the exception, although I expect to that had something to do with the X in his name.

Anyway, if Adam Lallana wanted to change his name at any stage I would be hugely supportive of that move. No need to burden yourself with gypsy voodoo like.

I see the doom mongers are back. Hopefully we start the season well and they find themselves "to busy in work" to post again.

Pilsbury Doughboy

Mr Alan wrote: »

Remember people saying the same about Charlie Adam......

Difference now is we have a manager that has a system and knows how to utilise a player, unfortunately Kenny didn't really know what he was doing, playing an immobile Adam in a 2 man midfield was suicidal.

I also remember people saying BR would be a terrible signing, that didn't work out too well either.

We make a good signing today and yet the thread has been turned into a doom and gloom session, strange.

Turtyturd

MD1990 wrote: »

I have serious doubts about him. Poor from crosses & with the ball at his feet. I would like us to sign Keylor Navas who is an outstanding keeper.

That poor with the ball at his feet criticism annoys me.

Pyjamarama

Turtyturd wrote: »

Sahin, even though it didn't turn out well. Everyone bar Knex was happy with Sturridge.

That's quite a few well received without even having to play the Victory card.

Knex didn't want sturridge?!? That's it he's out of the song again.

MD1990

We have to do everything to try & get Sanchez. There isnt that many top class players that we would have a chance of getting at all. If we don't get him we will have to buy a Young player & try and develop him into a top class player.

Turtyturd

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Knex didn't want sturridge?!? That's it he's out of the song again.

Pity someone didn't screencap his sig from back then.

K-9

Ok, Lallana reminds me of signings we made under Kenny back in the 80's, Houghton and Aldridge only had one season in the top flight IIRC.

It isn't a sexy signing but he has stepped up every level he has gone up, which is a big plus. He's versatile, if he's on the bench he gives 2 or 3 different options, from one player.

I'm not pushed about wages, I'd be surprised he's on 100k as it would put him near the top earners at the club and with English FA wage restrictions, I'd say the club will not just be handing somebody 100k because they want it.

For me the signing makes sense, he gives squad options, instead of looking at 2/3 players and thinking well, this is what each can do, you can look at him and think which position would I put him in. Logical signing for a club that can't compete depth wise with other top clubs.

I'm just not into writing players off straight away, I need to see what all the business is at the end of the window.

Pilsbury Doughboy

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Knex didn't want sturridge?!? That's it he's out of the song again.

Nope 'The Turd' didn't and still doesn't.

slingerz

Quite happy with the Lallana signing regardless of the fee paid. I think he will be a very good fit for the team.

also, Ashley Cole available on a free from today, would be a good addition i feel for what is a troublesome position especially with the Moreno deal stalling.

Micah Richards also being linked in a permanent move today.

Gbear

Mr Alan wrote: »

If that's the case it's baaaaad sign

Not necessarily.

The players we need to play with Suarez might be different to the ones we need without Suarez.

If we have an extra 80m quid or even 40-50m and Sanchez that could easily change what our targets are.

SlickRic

Mr Alan wrote: »

See this is absolute horse**** and the kind of hyperbole that has become so popular around these parts.

calm down, seriously.

Signed at 26
Signed from a smaller team
Talisman and captain of that team
Shortlisted for player of the year

True of both Charlie Adam & Adam Lallana.
Adam cost £6m quid or whatever, Lallana has been signed for £25m.

true.

he's a better footballer than Adam though. the fee is inflated because the money in England is hugely inflated this year, but he is better technically and more flexible tactically than Adam.

I hope Lallana is way better than Adam was for us, but it's not a sure thing & considering the monies involved, it's not near as much of a sure thing as one would hope it would be.

i said he'd be a lot better than Adam, which I'm convinced he will be.

the amount of money paid is the ONLY issue with this. he's is a quality player who can fill a number of positions if need be, giving us great flexibility.

Our business this summer to date, has been poor & we need up our game significantly.

agreed, if there are no more signings.

if Lallana is part of a massive spending spree then it's not a poor addition to the team at all, even though it's expensive.

I want us to be signing big, game-changing players, and I'll be extremely angry if we don't see any, particularly at CM, centre half and wing back before the summer is out.

if Lallana is the height of our signings, it will have been a fúcking horrendous summer.

K-9

Turtyturd wrote: »

Surely Mignolet was seen as a positive signing?

Loads confused why we had 2 first choice keepers!

Which is why you need the bigger picture before forming a judgement.

I am pie

If Suarez goes we need to make sure we dont try and replace him like for like. It just unecessarily burdens his replacement. We need to take the money and ensure we get goals from a few other sources and invest where we are weak. I suspect this season Spurs, with a better coach, will start to see the benefit of the Bale money.

You cant replace one of the best players in the world with the same talent easily, not when you haven't won a major trophy (no one in Europe gives a fig about domestic cups) for nearly 10 years.

Need to take the inevitable Suarez money and spread it across mf and defence.

Turtyturd

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Knex didn't want sturridge?!? That's it he's out of the song again.

Also I'd keep him in the song, hating your own players puts him up there with 'The Kerrigooney' as worst of the worst.

K-9

I am pie wrote: »

If Suarez goes we need to make sure we dont try and replace him like for like. It just unecessarily burdens his replacement. We need to take the money and ensure we get goals from a few other sources and invest where we are weak. I suspect this season Spurs, with a better coach, will start to see the benefit of the Bale money.

You cant replace one of the best players in the world with the same talent easily, not when you haven't won a major trophy (no one in Europe gives a fig about domestic cups) for nearly 10 years.

Need to take the inevitable Suarez money and spread it across mf and defence.

Wasn't it the Ajax chairman who said "you can't replace Suarez" when asked how do you?

This is it. Whether it was last season, this or next, we'll have to do it at some stage. Saying we can't makes us a one man club.

Turtyturd

K-9 wrote: »

Loads confused why we had 2 first choice keepers!

Which is why you need the bigger picture before forming a judgement.

I remember a few posters with fond memories of that period/manager/players were against the signing but I thought it was seen as a positive overall

Agent Coulson

First interview.

Leslie91

hangballlouie wrote: »

Sakho I seem to remember had initial praise from the majority when we signed him, the same with Sahin.

The money spent on lallana is crazy IMO, €15 woulda been the max I'd have been happy with, and even then that's a lot of cash. Better cheaper options out there tbh. I'm hoping the rest of the summer brings better players to the club. He's a very good player, and he'll be a good squad signing, but nothing more. I hope I'm wrong and he's the next Beardsley.

Nice comparison... the next Beardsley. That might well be spot on. Except he's better looking of course.

Lallana at 25m is better than Sanchez at 35m for me.

LuckyLloyd

I do think that, in a vacuum, the Lambert signing was good business and I reckon he'll do well for us. So not all negative.

Dickerty

K-9 wrote: »

Wasn't it the Ajax chairman who said "you can't replace Suarez" when asked how do you?

This is it. Whether it was last season, this or next, we'll have to do it at some stage. Saying we can't makes us a one man club.

Can't replace Rush (Fowler) or Fowler (Owen) or Owen (Torres) or Torres (Suarez) or Suarez when suspended (Sturridge)..

It happens.

billymitchell

Lallana is a much better player than Allen, so based on that alone, he is a good addition to the squad. Rodgers said at the start of the window that he is going to buy players to improve the first team, so far he has been true to his word

Lallana > Allen
Lambert > Aspas

I dont know enough about Emre Can to comment, but shirley he has to be better than Alberto.

Hopefully we should see some of the dross that was on our bench for most of last season being relegated to bit part players or moved on. I used to dread last year watching games last year, then seeing what we had on the bench. It was the bench of a midtable team at best.

0028673

Leslie91 wrote: »

Nice comparison... the next Beardsley. That might well be spot on. Except he's better looking of course.

Lallana at 25m is better than Sanchez at 35m for me.

I can't agree with that at all..

Sanchez, Lovren and Moreno/Rodriguez would make it an excellent summer

billymitchell

Also, not sure if this has been posted already. But Comolli was on Talk sport this morning. He has a bunch of quotes in relation to Suarez wanting to move to Barcelona/RM.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/damien-comolli-luis-suarez-told-3792367

Vanolder

Lallana was subbed off 22 times during the league last year--- I read somewhere... or at least imagined I did... that this was due to the amount of ground he covered and at the pace he covered it... Any truth to the second part? 25m is a lot for a player that rarely completes a game.

brevity

Vanolder wrote: »

Lallana was subbed off 22 times during the league last year--- I read somewhere... or at least imagined I did... that this was due to the amount of ground he covered and at the pace he covered it... Any truth to the second part? 25m is a lot for a player that rarely completes a game.

Leslie91

0028673 wrote: »

I can't agree with that at all..

Sanchez, Lovren and Moreno/Rodriguez would make it an excellent summer

U mean James?......

I'm just not sold on Sanchez...

Vanolder

brevity wrote: »

And? Who gives a F... what Arsenal blow their money on.

Pyjamarama

Vanolder wrote: »

And? Who gives a F... what Arsenal blow their money on.

If blowing money means getting players of ozils ability I hope we do it too!!

Red Pepper

Liverpool also need to concentrate on a couple of good defenders. They let in more goals (50) than 7 other teams in the Premiership last year.

Man City let in 37 and Chelsea let in only 27. If Chelsea had a decent striker, they would have won the league. Even United in 7th just let in 43 goals and Crystal Palace in 11th conceded 48 goals.

Agent Coulson

Vanolder wrote: »

Lallana was subbed off 22 times during the league last year--- I read somewhere... or at least imagined I did... that this was due to the amount of ground he covered and at the pace he covered it... Any truth to the second part? 25m is a lot for a player that rarely completes a game.

There is a table of the top 20 Marathon men in the PL last season on the link.
Henderson is 4th Lallana is 5th but made more sprints than any player in the league.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2602212/Nine-ten-players-Premier-League-distance-covered-table-English-West-Hams-Noble-leading-running-NINE-London-Marathons-season.html

K-9

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

I do think that, in a vacuum, the Lambert signing was good business and I reckon he'll do well for us. So not all negative.

At that money a no brainer.

Francie Barrett

If people are going to be comparing Lallana with one of our old flops, then he's more like Adam than Downing. I am not saying they're of the same ability, but in terms of style, they're more similar to each other than they are to Downing. Downing was a classic English winger - i.e. he played very wide, used pace to try and beat a player, made the goal line, then try to play through a cross or pass. From what I've seen of Lallana, he doesn't possess the same pace, or the same sort of engine as Downing, so he was more likely to play central, playing a pass through the middle, or coming into the box late to smash home a pass.

When you look at Charlie Adam before at Blackpool, and after since he moved to Stoke, he's actually had a few very good seasons. It's clear he's a decent player, but to get the best out of him, you need to be building the team around him, getting players alongside him who will do the grunt work while giving him the chance to be creative with the ball. The problem there, was that while Blackpool and Stoke are likely to tolerate a lack of consistency, a team like Liverpool weren't, requiring him to play deeper, to defend and track back. I think this took a lot of the sting out of his creative style.

My worry is that Lallana might be a similar sort of player. Again, I will not claim to be an expert of Southampton, but from the games I saw, it seemed fairly clear to me that as their talisman, he wasn't required to put the same shift in, or track back like the rest of the Southampton team. When you have the likes of Coutinho and Sterling in particular, who slog their guts, how well will it sit if Lallana doesn't match their efforts and is playing poorly?

This is going to be a real step up for Lallana. He'll be going from a coddled star to a player who might have to fight his way into the team, and be expected to produce on a consistent basis. I have doubts, but I hope I am proven wrong.

Turtyturd

brevity wrote: »

Vanolder

Pyjamarama wrote: »

If blowing money means getting players of ozils ability I hope we do it too!!

We're not, we are getting Lallana... keep up.

Pyjamarama

No offense Francie but one of his biggest strengths is that he's willing to put in all the donkey work required. That's one thing we don't have to worry about. He'll give it his all.

0028673

Leslie91 wrote: »

U mean James?......

I'm just not sold on Sanchez...

I meant Ricardo Rodriguez but I'd settle for James :P

TBH I think Sanchez would be near unplayable in a counter attacking team that plays with pace..

Pyjamarama

Vanolder wrote: »

We're not, we are getting Lallana... keep up.

Yeah but my comment was a response to you saying arsenal blew their money on Ozil. I didn't say matched that by signing lallana.

Cheers for pointing out who we got tho. I was confused alright.

Dickerty

Francie Barrett wrote: »

My worry is that Lallana might be a similar sort of player. Again, I will not claim to be an expert of Southampton, but from the games I saw, it seemed fairly clear to me that as their talisman, he wasn't required to put the same shift in, or track back like the rest of the Southampton team. When you have the likes of Coutinho and Sterling in particular, who slog their guts, how well will it sit if Lallana doesn't match their efforts and is playing poorly?

Coutinho slogs his guts out, and Lallana doesn't? I think you need to look again..

Gbear

Francie Barrett wrote: »

If people are going to be comparing Lallana with one of our old flops, then he's more like Adam than Downing. I am not saying they're of the same ability, but in terms of style, they're more similar to each other than they are to Downing. Downing was a classic English winger - i.e. he played very wide, used pace to try and beat a player, made the goal line, then try to play through a cross or pass. From what I've seen of Lallana, he doesn't possess the same pace, or the same sort of engine as Downing, so he was more likely to play central, playing a pass through the middle, or coming into the box late to smash home a pass.

When you look at Charlie Adam before at Blackpool, and after since he moved to Stoke, he's actually had a few very good seasons. It's clear he's a decent player, but to get the best out of him, you need to be building the team around him, getting players alongside him who will do the grunt work while giving him the chance to be creative with the ball. The problem there, was that while Blackpool and Stoke are likely to tolerate a lack of consistency, a team like Liverpool weren't, requiring him to play deeper, to defend and track back. I think this took a lot of the sting out of his creative style.

My worry is that Lallana might be a similar sort of player. Again, I will not claim to be an expert of Southampton, but from the games I saw, it seemed fairly clear to me that as their talisman, he wasn't required to put the same shift in, or track back like the rest of the Southampton team. When you have the likes of Coutinho and Sterling in particular, who slog their guts, how well will it sit if Lallana doesn't match their efforts and is playing poorly?

This is going to be a real step up for Lallana. He'll be going from a coddled star to a player who might have to fight his way into the team, and be expected to produce on a consistent basis. I have doubts, but I hope I am proven wrong.

Adam was the worst decision-maker I've ever seen playing for Liverpool. He played like an absolute idiot. That was his biggest problem.

And that's not something that might be obvious from statistics so it's easy to see why the likes of Commoli went for him - he was a reasonably good technician.

I don't think that's how we do business any more though and I trust Rodgers to have made the call that, in addition to his quality (which can be seen from the highlight reels), he uses his brain on the pitch.

There's no room in the football we play for stupid footballers (*cough* Glen Johnson *cough*).

Utopia Parkway

Vanolder wrote: »

Lallana was subbed off 22 times during the league last year--- I read somewhere... or at least imagined I did... that this was due to the amount of ground he covered and at the pace he covered it... Any truth to the second part? 25m is a lot for a player that rarely completes a game.

Yeah apparently he ran the 5th most in the PL. Henderson was 4th.